This paper is based on evidence from an observational case study using video recordings of social play and electronic games (console) of a group of 10-16 year olds. The experience of collaborative play is more easily accessible for research purposes because the visual data of the players interactions allow us to be more attentive to the actual experience of playing rather than simply interprete their surface features. Expert-novice behaviour is observed where the older and more experienced player guides the new comer to the game. The paper points to the need to develop more systematic ways of conveying the nature and function of social play and suggests that we take a broader view of interactivity, one that looks beyond the relationship between player and screen to take into account the social contexts and relationships that are inherent in so much gameplay.